The History of Postage Rates in the United States since 1863

The History of Postage Rates
in the United States

Compiled by Andrew K. Dart

Effective date

Per ½ Ounce

March 3, 1863	3¢
October 1, 1883	2¢

Per Ounce

July 1, 1885

2¢

Remarks

November 3, 1917	3¢			Higher rate during the war
July 1, 1919	2¢

Postcards

Sometime in 1898

1¢

July 6, 1932

3¢

January 1, 1952

2¢

August 1, 1958

4¢

3¢

January 7, 1963

5¢

4¢

ZIP Code begins

January 7, 1968

6¢

5¢

May 16, 1971

8¢

6¢

March 2, 1974

10¢

8¢

Each Additional Ounce

September 14, 1975

10¢

9¢

7¢

December 31, 1975

13¢

11¢

9¢

May 29, 1978

15¢

13¢

10¢

"A" stamps

March 22, 1981

18¢

17¢

12¢

"B" stamps

November 1, 1981

20¢

17¢

13¢

"C" stamps

October 1, 1983

ZIP+4 is implemented

February 17, 1985

22¢

17¢

14¢

"D" stamps

April 3, 1988

25¢

20¢

15¢

"E" stamps

February 3, 1991

29¢

23¢

19¢

"F" stamps

January 1, 1995

32¢

23¢

20¢

"G" stamps

January 10, 1999

33¢

22¢

20¢

"H" stamps

January 7, 2001

34¢

21¢

20¢

Nondenominated stamps

July 1, 2001

34¢

23¢

21¢

June 30, 2002

37¢

23¢

Flag and Antique Toy stamps

January 8, 2006

39¢

24¢

May 14, 2007

41¢

17¢

26¢

May 12, 2008

42¢

17¢

27¢

May 11, 2009

44¢

17¢

28¢

January 2, 2011

46¢

18¢

30¢

Sources

Postage rates: My father — a freelance bookkeeper for many years — kept a list like this, and I made a copy of his list sometime in the 1970's, and then kept updating it myself every time there was a rate increase. Eventually I converted it into this HTML document. Links to the US Postal Service web site are constantly changing, so there may be a number of broken links below. Please bear with me while I weed them out.

Postage Rates and Historical Statistics.

Rates for Domestic Letters, 1863-2009.

Rates for Domestic Letters, 1792-1863.

Significant Dates in USPS history.

Timeline of Significant Dates in Post Office History.

Information about the most recent (proposed) increase came from the Exigent Price Filing FAQ page

Information about "A" through "H" stamps came from the US Postal Rate Commission.

ZIP is an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, according to Unicover.

ZIP Code began July 1, 1963, according to The Postal Service History Page.

History of post card rates came from the US Postal Rate Commission, which has this to say about post card rates: "The post card rate has remained at 20 cents since 1995. On January 10, 1999, however, a one cent charge for the card itself was implemented, in addition to the postage. Putting a 20 cent stamp on a private card avoids the one cent card charge."

Airmail rates are not shown here; however, it is worth noting that domestic airmail was eliminated as a separate subclass of mail service, effective May 1, 1977.*

ZIP+4 was announced in 1978 and implemented October 1, 1983 according to Unicover.

Editor's Comment: ZIP+4 was supposed to make mail delivery faster and hold down costs. Is delivery any faster? (It's called "snail mail" for a reason.) Since nine-digit ZIP codes were introduced, there have been twelve rate increases.

Domestic Mail Rate History: This document shows that ZIP+4 does hold down the cost of postage... but only for commercial bulk-rate customers. In other words, it makes unsolicited junk mail easier to send, but it doesn't reduce the cost of a first-class letter at all.

Along the way I also found a complete Glossary of postal terms [PDF file] and a Postage Rate Calculator.
Broken link repaired 6/15/2009 -- thanks to Nils Carlson.

Complete Guide to Nondenominated Postage.
Broken link repaired 12/7/2008 -- thanks to David Kaufman.

New: Inflation-adjusted postage rates, in 2008 dollars.

You could make your own chart by using the On-line Inflation Calculator.

Updated 5/29/2010: A reader by the name of Rob Haeseler sent in a correction: The second line of the chart above was in error, and instead of March 3, 1883, the effective date for the two-cent rate was October 1, 1883. Hearing no objections, the table has been modified accordingly.

News items regarding rate increases

Postmaster General Recommends Cutting Back Mail Delivery to Five Days. Massive deficits could force the post office to cut out one day of mail delivery, the postmaster general told Congress on Wednesday [1/28/2009], in asking lawmakers to lift the requirement that the agency deliver mail six days a week. If the change happens, that doesn't necessarily mean an end to Saturday mail delivery. Previous post office studies have looked at the possibility of skipping some other day when mail flow is light, such as Tuesday.

Postmaster General: Mail days may need to be cut. Massive deficits could force the post office to cut out one day of mail delivery, the postmaster general told Congress on Wednesday [1/28/2009], in asking lawmakers to lift the requirement that the agency deliver mail six days a week.

The Editor states the obvious...
Reduced service for the same price is the same as a price increase.

Postmaster's pay to be probed. Congress will hold a hearing next month into why Postmaster General John E. Potter has gotten a nearly 40 percent pay raise since 2006 and was awarded a six-figure incentive bonus last year, even as the U.S. Postal Service faces a multibillion-dollar shortfall that threatens a day of mail delivery.

Collectors Discover Flag Stamp Has 14 Stripes. When an astute stamp collector recently discovered that one of the Old Glorys in the U.S. Postal Service's "Flags 24/7" series appears to have 14 stripes, it was bound to send a wave of excitement through the philatelic community. "Is there any icon better-known to Americans than their own flag?" said Fred Baumann, a spokesman for the American Philatelic Society. "This is something somebody should have caught along the way."

Post Service slashes 25,000 jobs this year. The U.S. Postal Service has slashed 25,000 jobs this year as it struggles to reduce a massive budget deficit. Postmaster General John Potter said Monday that agency employment is below 635,000, down from about 800,000 in 1999. Thousands of carrier routes have also been eliminated as mail volume declines.

Idaho Courier Survives Postal Cost-Cutting. When the Postal Service began scouring the map to help close a potential $6.5 billion budget deficit, an auditor's eye settled on central Idaho. The agency had been spending $46,000 a year for a challenging small-plane route that served about 20 addresses secluded in the roadless wilderness of the northern Rocky Mountains.

Official announcement of the rate increase scheduled for May 11, 2009.

News coverage of the most recent announcement:

Stamp prices going up again -- 46-cent rate asked. Buy those Forever stamps now.

Postage stamp price hike expected. Prepare to pay more to send mail. The U.S. Postal Service is requesting to increase the price of a stamp by two cents to 46 cents. But that's not the only item that could be getting more expensive. Postal officials announced a wide-ranging series of proposed price increases Tuesday [7/6/2010].

News coverage of the second most recent announcement:

Stamp prices going up 2 cents to 44 cents in May. The post office will get an extra 2 cents worth when you mail a letter starting in May. The U.S. Postal Service announced today that the price of a first-class stamp will rise to 44 cents on May 11. That gives plenty of time to stock up on Forever Stamps, which will continue to sell at the current 42-cent rate until the increase occurs. They will remain valid in the future regardless of rate hikes.

Stamps for U.S. letters to rise to 44 cents in May. The price of a one-ounce first-class stamp will rise to 44 cents on May 11, the U.S. Postal Service said on Tuesday [2/10/2009].

Editor's note:
Some news items on the day of the announcement included glaring errors, as shown below:

Postage Rates Go Up on May 1 (sic). The price of a first-class stamp will go up 2 cents to 44 cents on May 1, (sic) 2009, the Postal Service announced. Prices for other mailing services — Standard Mail, Periodicals, Package Services (including Parcel Post), and Extra Services — will also change.

USPS Jacks Up Price of First-Class Mail Stamps. The United States Postal service announced price hikes for mailing services today, including a 2-cent increase in the price of a First-Class Mail stamp. Those stamps will be 44 cents with the price increase. The changes will go into effect on May 11, which is in line with the annual review of postal mailing prices that are adjusted each may. (sic)

As postage hike looms, the thrifty are buying Forever stamp. Between the economy and the rising cost of postage, people are looking for ways to cut corners, and that has resulted in an increase of sales of the post office's Forever stamp.

New Forever stamp design

Forever Stamp Fact Sheet.

Current prices for domestic and international services.

Note: Links on this web site are provided as a public service.
This web site does not accept paid advertising.

In 2007 this was big news:
USPS Announces The "Forever" Stamp: Is It Worth Your $0.39? Yesterday [2/26/2007], the United States Postal Service announced the introduction of a "forever" postage stamp. Here's how it works: whenever you buy a first class postage stamp, it will no longer be marked with a cash denomination on it like current stamps are. Instead, it will merely say "First Class" on it. Once you buy it, you can use it at any point in the future.

Think twice before hoarding 'forever' stamps you might never use. The stamps are called "forever" because they will be good for any future single-piece first-class envelope weighing an ounce or less, no matter how prices might change in the future.

Additional information — Some of which is now outdated:

2-cent increase in stamp prices urged. A postal regulatory commission recommended a 2-cent increase in the cost of mailing a letter today and urged the Post Office to introduce a "forever" stamp valid for first-class postage even when rates rise. The recommendation to increase postage to 41 cents was a penny less than the postal service had requested.

PRC Issues Recommendations on the Postal Rate Case. On Feb. 26 the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) issued its recommendations on the rate case filed by the U.S. Postal Service last May. For the most part, the PRC agreed with the changes proposed in the case, though it did recommend raising the cost of a first-class stamp by two cents, to $0.41, rather than three cents.

Other news, notes and commentary

According to the access logs here at akdart.com, many people are linking to this page (that's good!) and some are using it as an educational tool in schools, which is wonderful. This chart seems to be an easy way to show kids what inflation does to the value of a dollar. If you would like to dig deeper, compare these postage prices to the US Consumer Price Index from 1913 to today.

Thanks to a reader named Marilyn who sent in this information:

"According to 'The Source -- A Guidebook of American Genealogy' by Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, there are postcard postage rates earlier than 1926. In their 1997 edition, page 13: 'Penny postcards were manufactured after 1898, when postal regulations established the penny postcard rate, while cards requiring two cents of postage date from 1873 to 1898.' My postcards have 1¢ stamps on them up through 1928." She also says postcards have 2¢ stamps on them beginning in 1929.

This seems to contradict the information on the Postal Rate Commission's web page, so I have included only the 1898 date in the table above.

Thanks also to Jim Cropper, evidently quite a stamp collector, who referred me to the USPS Rate Case filings, which show the Proposed Price Adjustments for Spring 2007, and the USPS Postal Bulletin, available cover-to-cover in Adobe PDF format bi-weekly.

Updated 2/29/2008:

Today I received an informative email from Lewis Bussey, president of the United Postal Stationery Society. Since he is evidently an authority on postal rate history, and since there is plenty of room on this page, I'll include his comments verbatim:

Dear Mr. Dart,

The domestic post card was authorized to be mailed at the same rate as government postal cards on July 1, 1898. Post cards were of course available well before 1898, but previously they were charged the higher letter rate, not a flat 2¢. This 1898 1¢ card rate continued until November 2, 1917 (the "war tax" increase) when the rate was effectively increased to 2¢. On July 1, 1919, the rate was reduced back to 1¢.

However on April 15, 1925, the "postal" card rate stayed 1¢ and the "post" card rate increased to 2¢. This condition continued until July 10, 1928, when both "postal" and "post" card were again charged 1¢. On January 2, 1952, the card rate went to 2¢ and has been increasing every since (except as you note from September 14, 1975 to December 31, 1975 when the rate actually decreased from 8¢ to 7¢).

Most of the card rates (domestic including charges for pre-sorting and automation, and also international rates) are tabulated in the United Postal Stationery Society's 2005 United States Postal Card Catalog.

Best Regards-
Lewis Bussey,
President, UPSS

Thank you, Mr. Bussey!

Updated 9/26/2008:

Doug Hardt writes,

The "Each Additional Ounce" column is somewhat misleading in that letters are limited to 3½ ounces or less. Ounces 2 and 3 each cost 17 cents but anything over 3 up to 3½ is another 17 cents. [Source]

Thanks, Doug!

Coin-operated stamp machines are being eliminated

Thieves Target Postal Stamp Machines. You may have noticed easy access to stamps missing from your neighborhood postal station. That's because crooks have turned their attention to breaking into stamp vending machines for the cash inside.

Post Office to Eliminate Stamp Machines. Postage stamps can be purchased by mail, at the supermarket, even from many bank cash machines. But there's one place you won't be able to get them in a few years … vending machines at the post office. The U.S. Postal Service plans to eliminate its 23,000 vending machines by 2010, the agency said in a recent internal memo.

U.S. Postal Service removing stamp machines. [Postmaster Rusty] Field said the Carroll Reece station on North State of Franklin Road does have an automated postal center, but it requires the use of a credit or debit card. U.S. currency won't do at the post office automated center. With plastic a person can also buy stamps online or over the telephone, and those who don't have anything in their wallet but cash can still wait in line and buy stamps from a postal clerk.

Stamp machines are convenient. Many of us have had the experience: We have a piece of mail that needs to go out immediately, so we go to the post office after normal operating hours. Mail still can be deposited in the outer lobby — and, thank heaven, there's a machine available to sell us a stamp. Not anymore. The U.S. Postal Service is removing all stamp vending machines. They're getting old and it is difficult to keep them in operation, say officials.

Stamp machines sent packing. Postmaster Donald Hopper said the U.S. Postal Service is removing 23,000 machines nationwide by 2010. Hopper said the postal service no longer makes new machines and maintenance costs are too high to keep them. Local postal employee Brian Moore, who's in charge of maintaining the machines, said they account for approximately 600 transactions per week.

Postal Service removing all stamp machines. Need stamps for those holiday cards? Don't go to the post office, unless you're prepared to stand in line or pay with a credit card. Stamp vending machines, where customers can buy a single 41-cent stamp or a book of stamps with coins or dollar bills, are on their way out.

The Editor says...
That will make the long lines at the window just a little longer.

Postal News dot com. The daily news digest of the postal world.

Postage rates are headed up, and in rural Alaska, it matters. Postal rates are scheduled to rise nationwide in May, and that means an increase in the cost of shipping rates for bypass mail services to rural Alaska. Postal officials say the cost of bypass mail shipping could see a 6 percent to 50 percent increase, depending on where the mail is shipped from — and where it's going.

Postal Worker Gets 5 Months for Taking Kids' Cash. A Northern California postal worker has been sentenced to five months in federal prison for stealing money from children's birthday cards. Twenty-nine-year-old Dean Hudson, of East Linda, was ordered to serve five months of home detention after his release from prison. He also must pay nearly $3,000 in restitution.

Postal Worker Stole 3,000 Netflix DVDs. A former postal service employee has pleaded guilty to stealing more than 3,000 DVDs that moved through a western Massachusetts post office. Myles Weathers, formerly of Springfield, took DVDs that were mailed by Netflix to customers for a year beginning in January 2007.

Editor's note:
Earlier versions of this story indicated that the postal worker had stolen 30,000 DVDs, but a correction was published soon afterward.

Bend postal worker admits $156,000 embezzlement. June Marie Newburn, 50, of Joseph, Ore., appeared in United States District Court in Eugene Tuesday [9/15/2009] and pled guilty to one count of theft of government property. Newburn was a U.S. Postal Service Sales and Service Associate in Bend at the end of her 23-year career as a postal employee.

Postal Service Employees Owed $300M in Taxes, IRS Data Shows. The U.S. Postal Service has more tax delinquents in its ranks than any other federal agency or department, according to Internal Revenue Service data.

Report finds 'imprudent spending' at Postal Service. The U.S. Postal Service spent more than $792,000 "without justification" on meals and events in one five-month period even as it reported losing $3.8 billion this year, the agency's inspector general says in a report. Employees spent $792,022 on meals and external events "without justification for food purchases, purchased alcohol without officer approval and exceeded the dollar limit for meals," the report says.

U.S. Postal Service Faces $7 Billion Net Loss in 2009. The U.S Postal Service faces a net loss of $7 billion in fiscal year 2009 even if it succeeds in cutting its costs by $6 billion, according to testimony provided to a Senate subcommittee last week by the Government Accountability Office. The Postal Service is expected to end the year with $10.2 billion in outstanding debt. Meanwhile, USPS faces continuing high overhead in the form of employee wages and benefits fixed by collective bargaining agreements, as well as declining use of the service by its customers.

Post Office to get hit with "high risk" rating as business keeps falling. The United States Postal Service will get some bad but unsurprising news today [7/28/2009]. The Government Accountability Office is expected to add it to its list of "high risk" government operations. The GAO publishes a biennial list of high risk agencies, which they define as having "significant management challenges."

GAO: Postal Service in financial disarray. The United States Postal Service (USPS) is in financial disarray, with plummeting levels of mail being sent and heathcare costs for retirees increasing, according to a report released Thursday [8/6/2009] by an investigative arm of Congress. The Government Accountability Office report comes on the heels of the GAO's decision to place the Postal Service on its high-risk list because the agency "has not been able to cut costs fast enough to offset the accelerated decline in mail volume and revenue."

Can the Postal Service be Saved? It's been an ugly few years for the United States Postal Service. The quasi-government agency announced this week that it lost $3.8 billion in the most recent fiscal year, which ended September 30th. It also delivered less mail — 26 billion fewer pieces less, a nearly 13 percent drop from the previous year. The bad news follows losses totaling $7.8 billion in 2007 and 2008.

Neighborhood mailboxes being stamped out. If you're suddenly having trouble finding a neighborhood mailbox, you've got lots of company. In recent weeks, one-quarter of the 3,700 collection boxes in the Los Angeles area have been removed, said Joseph L. Harrison, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service's Los Angeles district.

So Long, Snail Shells. For 43 years, in rain and shine, through the raising of seven children, the friendly box they could see through their front window's lace curtains was always there. Until, one day at lunchtime a week or so ago, it wasn't. [Andrew] Yankanich, 82, watched as postal workers hacked at the rusted bolts and hauled the box away for good.

Maine town fights phase-out of curbside mailbox. The folks of Otisfield are so fond of their lone public mailbox that they blocked it with a snowplow and a backhoe to prevent the Postal Service from taking it away in the gloom of night.

Take a Walk Through this Post Office. People who fear ObamaCare compare it to the US Postal Service. And so does the president! Allow me to walk the president through my post office, on West 83rd Street between Columbus and Amsterdam. What you'll notice first, Mr. President is: long lines, always. Doesn't matter if it's rush hour or the quietest part of the afternoon, there is always a lengthy wait to get to one of the windows. The lines have gotten even longer lately because a couple of years ago the two machines selling stamps and other items were removed. I was stunned. When was the last time you saw something de-automated?

Despite staff and spending cuts, post office lost $3.8 billion last year. The Postal Service reported a loss of $3.8 billion last year, despite a reduction of 40,000 full-time positions and other cost-cutting measures.

Postal Service Reducing Workforce, Offices as Mail Volume Falls. The U.S. Postal Service said it will offer early retirement to about 150,000 workers, close administrative offices and eliminate more than 3,000 jobs to help resolve a financial crisis as the volume of mail declines. Stamped mail is down to 1964 levels, officials said, contributing to a deficit that reached $2.8 billion in 2008 and is likely to be larger this year.

Why the Post Office will never make money: Could Federal Express or UPS survive, let alone make a profit, if they had politicians breathing down their necks regarding essential business decisions? Could any private business survive in a competitive marketplace under these circumstances? The likely answer is no.

Not going postal. Last-minute shoppers, beware. If you are running behind in mailing Christmas gifts to loved ones, and you absolutely, positively need your packages to arrive on time, it's safest to avoid the post office. The U.S. Postal Service is so slow that even a fruit cake could decompose before making it to its intended recipient.

U.S. Postal Offering to Pay Workers to Leave, Retire. The U.S. Postal Service said it reached agreement with two unions to offer as many as 30,000 employees incentives to resign or retire by the end of next month in a plan that may save $500 million.

U.S. Postal Service offers buyouts to 30,000 workers. The U.S. Postal Service will offer buyouts to 30,000 workers in hopes of saving $500 million in costs next year, the agency reported Tuesday [8/25/2009]. According to a news release, the USPS negotiated an agreement with two of its employee unions to offer select employees a financial incentive to retire or resign before the end of this fiscal year.

Congress [and] what it did to the post office. The present dilemma of the Postal Service, which includes closing post offices and eliminating Saturday delivery, is a prime example of how Congress fixes problems. In 1992, the Postal Service was facing a $1 billion deficit that would have resulted in a rate increase above the rate of inflation. As a result, Congress grilled the postmaster general and told him to fix it without closing any post offices or affecting service.

The Junk's in the Mail. The number of pieces of first-class mail is steadily dropping, from 98 billion pieces in 2004 to 96 billion pieces in 2007. Faced with a $1 billion operating deficit this year — the largest since 1995 — the Postal Service is feeling the pinch. Now, one of the most lucrative sources of postal income, junk mail, is also under siege.

Balanced Postal Reform: The Postal Service has little oversight, and virtually no accountability. It is an independent federal agency with commercial responsibilities. It has an annual budget of over $68 billion handling over 200 billion pieces of mail, yet it does not have to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission, comply with the Federal Trade Commission's truth-in-advertising rules, nor adhere to local government zoning and traffic regulations. It defines the scope of its own monopoly and, in some respects, regulates its competitors.

Postal Debt Soars to $13 Billion, Stamp Prices Continue to Climb: New poll shows the public wants a postal audit before stamp prices rise again. CAGW Unveils "Commemorative Stamps" Asking, "Where's Our Money Going?"

The Mail Monopoly: The big problem with the U.S. Postal Service is that it is a monopoly and that the government keeps it a monopoly by law.

Postal Service fixes long waits by removing clocks. The missing clock didn't stop postal customer Al Cunningham from noticing the amount of time spent waiting for service. "It's always long here," said Cunningham, 49, an insurance adjuster and former postal employee who was standing in line at the Watson Post Office in Fort Worth.

Atheist Group Blasts Postal Service for Mother Teresa Stamp. An atheist organization is blasting the U.S. Postal Service for its plan to honor Mother Teresa with a commemorative stamp, saying it violates postal regulations against honoring "individuals whose principal achievements are associated with religious undertakings."

The Editor asks...
Did they ever complain about stamps honoring Reverend Martin Luther King?

The Stalinist and the Stamp: Why is the Postal Service honoring a commie? If ever a stamp cried out for cancellation, it is this one.

Graphic 'borrowed' from WorldMag dot com

Stamp Out the Rate Hikes. Postal regulators have accepted a proposal from media giant Time Warner that would stifle small and independent publishers in America. The plan unfairly burdens smaller publishers with higher postage rates while locking in special privileges for bigger media companies.

Editor's note:
If you click on this graphic, you will be taken to a web page about resisting postage rate increases. If you explore the rest of their web site, you will see that they disagree with me about everything else. Even so, I'm willing to assist them on this one issue. As you may know, there is no paid advertising on akdart.com. Whenever you see a graphic like this, and it links to an external site, it is provided as a public service.

Book: The Last Monopoly: Privatizing the Postal Service for the Information Age: edited by Edward L. Hudgins, Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute, 1996, 138 pp. "The check is in the mail" was once an excuse you gave your creditors when your bill was past due. In recent years, however, it's been more likely than ever to be the truth. In an age where an hour can mean the difference between a closed deal and a closed door, what once may have been an acceptable delivery time for the post office just won't cut it anymore.

U.S. Postal Service Seeks 5-day Delivery. The U.S. Postal Service will move this month toward reducing mail delivery from six days a week to five, a change Postmaster General John Potter has said is critical to reducing its massive debt. Potter said Monday [3/1/2010] he'll submit a formal request by the end of this month to the Postal Regulatory Commission, which must issue an advisory opinion on any change in mail service that would have national impact.

Postal Service Urged to Weigh Three-Days-a-Week Mail. The U.S. Postal Service, facing a $238 billion budget deficit by 2020, should consider cutting delivery to as few as three days a week as the agency attempts to pare costs, a consulting firm said.

Postal service chief: Our business model as outdated as the newspaper industry's. The head of the U.S. Postal Service said Thursday [3/11/2010] that his organization's business model is as outdated as the newspaper industry's. John Potter, United States Postmaster General, cited changes in technology and channels of communication as justification for a revamp of the Postal Service's delivery schedule and pricing system.

The U.S. Postal Service, being immune to risk, cannot go out of business.
What Do Detroit, the Postal Service, and Health Care Reform Have in Common? That the U.S. Postal Service is swimming in red ink isn't news. The nation's postal service, despite its first-class mail monopoly, swims in red ink a lot. The important news to Americans as they follow Washington's three-ring health care circus is that U.S. Postmaster General Joe E. Potter wants to drop Saturday mail delivery as a cost-cutting measure.

Postal Service Moves Toward Five-Day Delivery. The Postal Service took the first formal step Wednesday [3/24/2010] toward cutting mail delivery to five days a week.

Cancel the post office. The postman won't even ring once on weekends. In a desperate attempt to trim costs, the U.S. Postal Service is cutting off your Saturday service. This move is too little, too late for one of the federal government's most bloated and incompetent bureaucracies. Yesterday [3/30/2010], the Postal Service formally asked federal regulators for permission to move to a five-day delivery schedule.

What Gov't Can't Do: The post office, which has a government-protected monopoly on first-class mail delivery, could lose at least $238 billion over the next decade. This is a government agency — its claims of independence are not believable — that has no competitors, has raked in $27 billion in taxpayer's money since 1970, is exempt from most taxes and can borrow from the U.S. Treasury at rates below market value. Yet, it cannot break even, much less make a profit. There's something deeply amiss with how the USPS does business.

Sinking Ship: The U.S. Postal Service. The Government Accountability Office issued a rather bleak report on the state of the U.S. Postal Service this week. The opening sentence states, "USPS's business model is not viable," and from there the picture only gets worse. The USPS, although no longer officially a government agency, is a case study of the biggest problems with government programs and government agencies.

Unions Killing U.S. Post Office. Union contracts are killing the U.S. Post Office, making it uncompetitive and driving costs through the roof according to the Government Accountability Office. The U.S. Post Office lost $12 billion between 2007 and 2009 and has reached its borrowing limit of $15 billion already.

U.S. Postal Service Facing 'Major Financial Crisis,' Report Says. Failure to achieve a "major restructuring" of the U.S. Postal Service "will increase the risk that taxpayers and the U.S. Treasury will have to provide financial relief," says a recent report from the Government Accountability Office.

Wrinkles found in Postal Service pact. When the U.S. Postal Service's top marketing officer agreed to hire Goldman Sachs nearly two years ago without a written contract, top executives inside postal headquarters scrambled to make the unauthorized deal square with postal procurement rules. But the no-bid contract they eventually awarded to Goldman Sachs was backdated and was for the wrong kinds of services...

USPS posts $3.5 billion loss as mail volume plunges. The U.S. Postal Service reported a $3.5 billion loss in its most recent quarter Thursday [8/5/2010], as mail volume plummets and retiree health care costs mount.

The Rogues' Gallery Of Government. Over the long haul, Social Security is liable for paying out $7.9 trillion more in benefits than it will receive in tax revenues. While digesting that grim news, don't forget Thursday's report that the U.S. Postal Service lost $3.5 billion for the quarter that ended June 30. Over the same quarter last year, the post office lost only $2.4 billion. Three-fourths of the way through its current fiscal year, losses at the Postal Service have totaled $5.4 billion. The post office's future is as dim, if not dimmer, than its past.

3,000 postal workers march to protest cost-cutting moves. Wearing blue shirts, thousands of American Postal Workers Union members packed Campus Martius in downtown Detroit on Tuesday [8/24/2010] to protest the U.S. Postal Service's proposal that Congress agree to eliminate Saturday mail service next year as a cost-cutting move.

Editor's Comments: The sheer volume of the US Mail is rather astonishing. But the Postal Service brings this burden upon itself by handling unsolicited junk mail at reduced rates, which leads to lower profits for them and more junk mail for us. There is one good thing to say about email spam and pop-up ads on the internet: They have made paper junk mail less economical.

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